Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
United Nations
General Assembly
Distr.: General
9 July 2014
Original: English
Sixty-eighth session
Agenda item 76 (a)
Oceans and the law of the sea
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claims over the Hoang Sa Archipelago. The letter made no mention at all of
sovereignty over the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa Archipelagoes. The letter concerned
maritime entitlements, not territorial issues. In fact, the conclusions that China
would draw today from the letter are contradicted by Chinas own statements,
including statements by Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping himself.
In September 1975, 17 years after the release of the letter by the late Prime
Minister Pham Van Dong, Chinese Leader Deng Xiaoping told Vietnamese Leader
Le Duan in Beijing that China has sufficient materials to prove that the Xisha
Islands (Hoang Sa) and Nansha Islands (Truong Sa) have been part of Chinas
territory since long ago. However, in line with the principle of friendly consultation
to resolve differences, the two countries will discuss with each other to address this
issue later. Deng Xiaopings statement was well noted in a Chinese Ministry of
Foreign Affairs memorandum dated 12 May 1988 and reflects Chinas
understanding that sovereignty was not settled in favour of China by any previous
statement or agreement. Viet Nam requests that China respect this historical fact and
seriously engage in negotiations with Viet Nam in respect of the Hoang Sa
Archipelago.
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